Shi Xinxin couldn't sleep the night before due to the torrential rain. Although people from the head office had warned her about the possibility of mudslides, she had appeared unafraid at the time.
It was simply because she had never experienced a mudslide before; ignorance breeds fear. That was her situation. But now, the pouring rain made her afraid to sleep, constantly ready to evacuate.
That night, an emergency alert was issued in the village. At first, she joked with her colleagues, saying there wouldn't be anything to worry about, as weather forecasts often lied. But as the night wore on and the rain showed no signs of stopping,
and even seemed to be getting heavier, her jokes no longer amused even herself. Around three in the morning, she heard someone knocking on the door.
She and the female reporter from her group were startled. When they opened the door, it was someone sent by the village to inform them to evacuate. "The village can't be saved anymore. People must be evacuated to a safe place first."
Shi Xinxin was shocked by these words, never expecting such a thing to actually happen to her. The female reporter from her group reacted more quickly, grabbing a jacket and a raincoat for her.
In a panic, the two followed the person who had come to fetch them and ran out into the rain. Carelessly, Shi Xinxin only remembered her phone was still in her room after running out of the village.
But the situation was urgent, and she no longer had a chance to return to her room. In this moment of crisis, she worked with the young people of the village to arrange the evacuation of the villagers.
The trouble was, the village had a large number of children and elderly people staying behind, while the young and able-bodied men had left home early to work in the city. Consequently, the entire group moved very slowly.
Shi Xinxin and her group were also involved in arranging the evacuation, so they were always at the back. As dawn approached, the rain had lessened somewhat compared to midnight.
However, due to the continuous rainfall overnight, the soil on the mountain had become loose, posing a constant risk of landslides.
Sheng Chenjin was stopped by traffic police on the road approaching the mountainous area. "Sir, due to the overnight rainfall, there's a possibility of mudslides ahead, so you cannot proceed further on this road."
After explaining his intentions to the traffic police, they told Sheng Chenjin he could wait for news at the neighboring municipal government, but he was still not allowed to drive into the mountains alone.
With no other option, Sheng Chenjin followed the traffic police's instructions. Upon arriving at the municipal government, he noticed many rescue vehicles.
Anxious, he hurried forward, without even identifying himself, and asked the rescue personnel about the situation in the mountains. The rescue personnel informed him that the villagers had evacuated themselves today.
However, due to the large number of elderly people and children, they now needed to rush to designated locations to meet them. Sheng Chenjin asked if he could go with them. According to regulations, rescue personnel could not agree to such a request.
But Sheng Chenjin pleaded, "My fiancée went into the mountains to interview a few days ago, and I haven't been able to reach her since last night. Please, let me go with you."
Upon hearing this, no one stopped him. The situation was urgent, and they pulled him into a rescue vehicle and arrived at their destination.
After getting out of the vehicle, Sheng Chenjin began searching for Shi Xinxin's figure. He walked back and forth through the crowd twice without finding her. With each face he scanned that wasn't familiar, his anxiety grew.
Sheng Chenjin couldn't help himself. He grabbed a nearby villager and asked, "Where are those young people who came to your village to interview a few days ago?"
The villager, startled by being grabbed, was initially confused. After understanding his question, he pointed to his left. Sheng Chenjin saw a group of shivering young people.
Rescue personnel were distributing food and blankets to them. Sheng Chenjin ran over, taking two steps at a time. "Are you the reporters sent by the magazine?"
"Yes," the person from the head office stood up first and replied, thinking it was someone from the company sent to receive them. Sheng Chenjin felt a surge of joy upon getting an answer.
It was good that he had found people. But as he looked among the group, he couldn't find Shi Xinxin. "Then where is Shi Xinxin?"
The head of the head office told him that Shi Xinxin had previously helped the young people of the village escort the elderly down the mountain. Because some elderly people had difficulty walking, she volunteered to stay behind with a young man from the village to care for her.
However, a landslide suddenly occurred midway. After the disaster stopped, they went back to search, but only found the young man from the village and the elderly person. Shi Xinxin was nowhere to be found.
"Then aren't you going to look for her anymore?"
"Because there are many elderly people, women, and children in the group, everyone decided to escort them away first to avoid further danger. We've already notified the rescue team, and they said they would go up the mountain to rescue people immediately."
Sheng Chenjin was furious upon hearing this. "What do you mean 'immediately go up the mountain'? They encountered danger on the way, and you didn't rescue Shi Xinxin in time. You don't even know how she is."
Now that the villagers have been escorted down, they aren't organizing people to go up the mountain to rescue her. These people are truly heartless.
When it came to Shi Xinxin's affairs, Sheng Chenjin was always anxious, and it was the same now. Hearing this person's reply, even though he was Shi Xinxin's colleague, Sheng Chenjin felt he had acted excessively.
After listening, Sheng Chenjin turned and found the rescue personnel. "There's still one person missing. We should go up the mountain immediately."
"Yes, we heard. We are organizing a rescue team."
"Organizing what? Aren't these rescue personnel right here? Hurry up and go up the mountain," Sheng Chenjin shouted anxiously.
"Our mission is to meet these villagers. We must first take them to a safe place in the city. Don't worry, we will definitely go look for the person who hasn't been found yet. Please don't be anxious."
Sheng Chenjin became even more angry after hearing this. How could he not be anxious? He had rushed here from afar precisely to ensure Shi Xinxin's safety.
Yet, upon arriving here, he learned that the entire village had abandoned her. It was truly a case of good intentions leading to bad outcomes. Now, it was a matter of life and death. A landslide had occurred before they even descended the mountain.
The person who rescued them was still in an unknown state. "You're not going to rescue her, and you're here placating these people who are already safe..."
"Sir, please understand. This is still a mountainous area, and the danger has not been completely eliminated. Please cooperate with our work. Once we have finished here, we will immediately arrange for personnel to go up the mountain to search. We are also short-handed right now. We can only evacuate the majority first. We cannot abandon the safety of these people for the sake of finding just one person."